


Times of Trouble

by BasicallyAnIdiot



Series: Transit Drabbles [1]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Anna is a Rebel, Anna makes Kvar's life a living hell, F/M, I have to take a communications class I could probably teach, Kratos is amused, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 19:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20698787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasicallyAnIdiot/pseuds/BasicallyAnIdiot
Summary: The world’s greatest tragedies, Kratos mused to himself in quiet desperation, were the words left unspoken.





	Times of Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> So. I take the bus to school now and I have a class I could sleep through. I'm using that time to continue practice writing- mostly drabbles and ideas I have been kicking around for a while. No rhyme or reason to the posting schedule either (or editing). 
> 
> Please enjoy the ride!

The world’s greatest tragedies, Kratos mused to himself in quiet desperation, were the words left unspoken. 

He should have told her. Should have warned her. How many nights had he felt the soft unseen pressure against his back? 

He had _ known _ Kvar was behind them, searching for the woman who had stood in defiance among the ruins of Luin while the townsfolk fled before Tethe’allan armies- buying time they did not have and- drawing his eye to a place far away from the battlefields in the east. The man’s prayers came and went with the rise and fall of the sun- honour to the Unnamed War God, greatness for Tethe'alla and glory in a war that stretched for decades. Kvar wanted nothing more than Sylvarant’s rebellion crushed beneath his heel. 

Kratos had expected a small team of trackers- not Mizuho Shinobi. Experts in the killing arts, and apparently good enough to track even him when he walked the mortal plane. Normally they were a favourite of his, people who had dedicated themselves to their craft. 

Now he wished he had razed their village to the ground centuries ago. 

But Anna didn’t know any of that. How could she? He had never told her. Never hid it, but never explained either. Now she stood, blood dripping from a cut on her cheek, short daggers that she hated learning to use in hand against opponents capable of overpowering a novice in three moves. Her bow and arrows had been left at the campsite- why would she need them if she was collecting firewood?

Foolish. He had been foolish to let her go alone. 

The blade at his neck was a minor inconvenience compared to the sight of Anna surrounded on all sides. A human wouldn’t stand a chance against those odds. Kvar wanted her alive- alive to be humiliated and beaten before a crowd- and it was the only reason she was still standing. 

Anger burned low in his blood at the thought- the wrath that had leveled temples and towns alike rising again. 

The first scythe struck across Anna’s back, and her scream was pain and rage. Cutting far deeper into him than a blade could. He had sworn to protect her- protect the rebel Sylvarant held high, her bow a symbol of resistance against Tethe'alla. The one that gave them hope.

Rebels had always found a place in his portfolio, dubious as his patronage was. To fight for one’s ideals was considered an honour among the living, but he never held it as high as the respect he held for those who choose to protect. Those who would lay down their life for others, who shared the last of their bread with strangers, provided shelter for the sick and dying. Rebellion took many forms, and Kratos respected them all. 

The War God would let her die- death was just as likely an outcome as any other in war. Victory waged nd measured in blood. This was an affair of mortals- it wasn’t his place to interfere.

But a God of Rebellions was under no compulsion to play by the rules. 

He moved. Felt the aborted motion of the knife sliding across his neck- blade skimming harmlessly against skin. Kratos didn’t bother drawing his sword- it appeared in his hand with a flare of intent- as he whirled to punch the woman behind him. Her jaw caved, and she dropped.

The commotion drew two more towards him- two more away from Anna, evening the odds just enough. Kratos dropped the pretense of being human, moving faster and hitting harder than any mortal could. More free than he had been since this war started, binding him to the mortal planes.

Deflecting throwing knives with the flat of his sword, he stepped ahead crossing the distance as reality bent to his will. Bones snapped under his foot as he kicked, care taken not to kill any of them- not yet, not until he knew for sure what Kvar wanted with Anna. Then they could die. 

Ramming the pummel of his sword into a man’s stomach hard enough to drop him, Kratos whirled to face the last of their opponents. His sword aimed low, parallel to the ground, just a short stab away from ending the man.

Anna stood on shaky legs, chest heaving with exertion and pain. A short dagger held with both hands in front of her, blood dripping slowly down the blade. A body was crumpled on the ground in front of her. The forest clearing was quiet. 

He watched her take a deep breath, saw the wince of pain. “Are they down?”

“Yes.” He didn’t re-sheath his sword, not yet, at least three of the four were still alive. For the moment. 

She licked her lips. Breathing evening out. Anna let go of the dagger, letting it fall into the dirt. A poor way to treat the weapon that had saved her life. The tremble in her hands was only slight. “We should go.”

No time then for an interrogation. Very well. He stepped to the closest one, sword raised high. A young man with sharp cheeks, and hints of puberty left behind. A life cut short- war was full of those.

“What are you doing?”

Kratos froze. He glanced at Anna, at the soft frown with tight lips. The way her arms trembled minutely, shakes controlled as blood pooled underneath the soles of her boots. He frowned a hair. “They would have killed you.”

Her expression hardened, shakes gone as her shoulders straightened out. Warm chocolate eyes all but glared him with a flintiness he normally associated with Yuan. She brushed her trousers down, an action of composure that was useless at removing the smears of mud across her knees and thighs. “Yes.”

Unexpected. He frowned at her, watching the shadows of leaves dance over her as sunlight flickered through the trees, lowering his sword to the side. “It would be a risk to leave them alive.”

Her slow nod freed a couple of strands of her brown hair from behind her ear. She pushed them back into place as was her habit. “I know.”

This woman- Kratos didn’t understand her. Hadn’t understood when she stood against an army, knowing she would die, to let the rest of the Luin’s townsfolk get away. Making such a spectacle of herself, Kvar brought his entire army to a halt to deal with her- only for Anna to get away after she planted a flaming arrow through Kvar’s banner. _ Then _she crept back during the night, stole the Tethe’allan flag when the army was sleeping and stuck it in the manure pile behind the stables. Half the camp had been woken up by Kvar’s screaming that morning. 

It had been the first time Kratos laughed the entire war. 

It had been the reason he stepped in when Kvar’s hunters finally caught up with her and left her for dead. The strength that let her stand in front of an army was enough for her to cling to life. Long enough for him to catch up. 

Once she woke up, she promptly convinced him into helping her steal Tethe’allan armour. Then he found himself following her as she slipped back into Kvar’s army and caused _ havoc _. Supply requests went missing, horses got loose in the dead of night, tent pegs disappeared, and a curious amount of fleas found their way into the laundry area. Once again, Anna brought an advancing army to a standstill, Kratos laughing beside her. 

They were found. Escaped too, fleeing the army behind them on a hope and prayer that Kvar had bigger problems to deal with. Apparently he didn’t.

“Why?” His voice was harder than expected, colder than he normally used with Anna. Closer to immortal than he cared for. 

The rebel who faced down armies stared right back, unflinching. “Because that is what Kvar would do, and I am not Kvar.” She tilted her chin up, proud even as her cheek sluggishly dripped blood, “And neither are you.”

~*~*~*~

It was quiet at the campsite that night, leagues away from the forest clearing- as far as they could travel as quickly as they could travel. He kept the fire going out of routine than need, careful not to look at his travel partner as she slept on her stomach beside him, her entire torso covered with bandages over his lackluster stitch work. The wound had been deep, exposing bone in some places, but thankfully hadn’t punctured anything. 

He glanced at her when she shifted, her breathing even in sleep. Strands of hair had fallen forward over her eyes. Kratos reached out and gently brushed the hair back, skin soft under the tips of his fingers, hand lingering a moment. 

The fire burned the night through.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on[ Tumblr!](https://basicallyanidiot.tumblr.com/)


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